Kentucky Digital Government Summit in Lexington

On April 26, for the fifth straight year the Commonwealth Office of Technology partnered with Government Technology magazine and key industry sponsors to host the Kentucky Digital Government Summit in Lexington. The gathering of IT leaders from all across the commonwealth provided a forum for communications and collaboration on technology solutions and business practices to help those in the public sector increase efficiency and improve services. The conference provided opportunities for attendees to interact with each other and key vendors on technology solutions and strategies.

In his opening remarks, Kentucky Commissioner of Technology, Mike Inman,

Commissioner Inman

Paul Taylor, Keynote Speaker

welcomed over 100 attendees from as far away as Benton, in far West Kentucky. Inman challenged attendees to use their time at the one-day conference to meet new contacts, learn about technologies they weren't already familiar with, and increase their level of knowledge in at least one existing area of expertise. Inman also introduced the conference's keynote speaker, Paul Taylor, Ph.D., the chief strategy officer for the Center for Digital Government.

Dr. Taylor entertained, educated, enlightened and challenged the audience as he presented a dazzling history of the first 50 years of digital government, and a look at what might be coming in the next 50 years. Dr. Taylor's multimedia presentation included highlights of almost every technology breakthrough since 1955, the year that he declared to be the first year of digital government. Dr. Taylor credited the cold war with starting digital government by prompting the development of the first systems to integrate hardware, software and network connectivity. His list of the top 25 innovations of the last 25 years included the Internet, cell phones, personal computers, fiber optics, e-mail, commercialized GPS, portable computers, digital cameras and many other advances. During his well-received presentation, Dr. Taylor offered both insight and wit as he enumerated his "Ten Questions Worth Asking." He also reminded attendees that new innovations are both enabling and disruptive, as they often force organizations to completely reinvent their business processes to accommodate the new technology.

After the keynote address, conference attendees participated in breakout sessions on a number of timely subjects, including:

Tom Ferree Discusses Project Management

Broadband Initiatives in Kentucky

Consolidation Trends in Government

Voice Over IP (VoIP)

GIS Capabilities and Opportunities

Cyber Security

Sharing Systems and Applications

Project Management

Identity Management and Authentication

Architecture Best Practices

Knowledge Management and Business Intelligence

After lunch, in the conference's second plenary session, Brian Mefford, president of ConnectKentucky, lead a panel of distinguished Kentucky leaders in a group discussion.

Brian Mefford Leads Panel Discussion

The panel included the Hon. Trey Grayson, Kentucky Secretary of State; Larry Hayes, deputy mayor of Louisville Metro Government; Lee Tompkins, general manager of Kentucky.gov; and, the Hon. David Willmoth, mayor of Elizabethtown. The group discussed what is expected from information technology, what is considered a success, where there is room for improvement, priorities for the years ahead, opportunities for collaboration and their views on management and leadership.

The conference concluded with an executive reception where attendees were able to meet new contacts and interact with the many vendor representatives present.